A defence lawyer says a Qatari poet has been sentenced to life in prison for an Arab Spring-inspired verse that officials claim insulted Qatar’s emir and encouraged the ruler’s overthrow.

DOHA, QATAR—A defence lawyer says a Qatari poet has been sentenced to life in prison for an Arab Spring-inspired verse that officials claim insulted Qatar’s emir and encouraged the ruler’s overthrow.

The verdict Thursday is certain to bring a fresh outpouring of denunciations by rights groups, which have repeatedly called for the release of poet Muhammad ibn al-Dheeb al-Ajami. His lawyer, Najib al-Nuaimi, says he will appeal the sentence.

Al-Ajami was jailed in November 2011, months after an Internet video was posted of him reciting “Tunisian Jasmine,” a poem lauding the country’s popular uprising that touched off the Arab Spring revolts across the Middle East.